Love at First Fight
by hannahbbug3
Summary: "Your Highness, I won't lie to you. This will not be an easy ride. Please, take this rapier. If something should happen to me, you must continue to Frelia, alone if need be." "It's all right, Seth. ...I will stand with you." Another take on the actions behind the words of the Sacred Stones Prologue. Can be taken as SethxEirika or just the two as friends. Seth-centric.


"Princess Eirika! This way! I can see no more of Grado's men. If we've made it this far, we've surely earned a moment's rest."

I slowed my horse to a halt, letting Eirika slide off my mount and to the ground. I could see a faint trace of redness on her cheeks, and soon felt the same shade darken mine. "Please forgive my grabbing of you so… brusquely earlier."

"Don't be foolish, Seth. If it weren't for you, I would have never made it out of the castle. You are the reason I'm still alive. You have my gratitude."

I felt my face darken another shade or two, and was glad that at this point the Princess didn't seem to notice. She was trembling slightly, I saw, and I knew she must've been shaken over the events that had just occurred. She took a step closer to me, staring up into my eyes.

"And whoever that man was, he was clearly after me… It's my fault that you received such a grave wound. Allow me to treat it, I—"

I looked down at the slash in my torso, which gushed blood. I waved her away as I tried to staunch the flood of red that erupted from the wound with my hand. "Your Highness, I can't allow an injury like this to be an obstacle. We have more important matters to attend to. We must press on to Frelia. We must fulfill His Majesty's wishes."

Eirika paused, and I noted that her pallor only seemed to be draining more as her eyes went from my wound back to my eyes, hoping to find comfort in them. "…I wonder how my father fares alone in the castle. Do you think he's safe? And what of my brother on the Grado front? We heard nothing from him for days…"

I placed a hand on her shoulder. "King Fado and Prince Ephraim are both valiant and brave men," I said, "I doubt even the might of the Grado Empire can hold them in check." I offered a reassuring smile. "More important to me, Your Highness, is that you look to your own safety. How sad the two of them would be if something were to happen to you. We must reach Frelia to ensure the day of your happy reunion."

My reassurances obviously helped. The Princess smiled slightly, some of her color returning. "Yes, of course. You're right. Until I'm reunited with my father and brother, I must not despair." She looked up at me, "Come Seth, let us go."

I ignored the pain in my wound as I led the Princess on, knowing that nothing was more important, not even my own health, when compared to the Princess's. She following along behind me at a good clip, and soon, we were closer to Frelia than we'd ever been. I turned to look at her. "Once we cross that bridge, we will be in Frelia, near Border Mulan. Let us proceed, Princess Eirika."

She hurried to catch up with me, and I frowned as I saw that her steps had slowed. Our march had been long, of course she was tired by now. "Your Highness, I won't lie to you. This will not be an easy ride. Please, take this rapier. If something should happen to me, you must continue to Frelia, alone if need be."

As soon as the words were out of my mouth, there was a yell from behind us. How long had we been followed? I wondered.

"You there! Renais dogs! Where do you think you're going?"

"Grado's men," I breathed. I took a step forward. "Stand back, Princess Eirika."

I had the full intention of trying to protect her against these men alone, despite the wound I'd already suffered, but the Princess stepped up beside me, drawing out the rapier I'd just handed her.

"It's all right, Seth. My brother has taught me something of swordplay," she said. "I will stand with you."

Though relief poured through me at the words, I could not allow this to stand. Though the help would have been much appreciated… I opened my mouth to object, when suddenly an enemy warrior leapt at the girl, swinging his axe maliciously.

"Princess Eirika!" I cried, alarmed. The man fell, and Eirika was still standing.

"I'm fine," she assured me, "His axe was slow, and I was quick," she said. She stepped forward to the man, who was critically wounded, but still alive. "Now it's my turn!"

I was shocked, to say the least. Renais's Princess had never before seen battle, but I had to admit… she was good at it. And it was a compliment, coming from me, one of the elite knights of the kingdom. But the longer she stayed in the fray, the more chance she had of getting wounded. As she lashed out and the man fell, I moved in front of her, preventing her advance on the next member of the enemy's army.

"I'll hold the rest of them here," I insisted, "Please, Princess—to Frelia!" I commanded. I rode on ahead, attacking left and right despite the wound I'd suffered. In a moment of pause in the fight, I looked over my shoulder, to see that Eirika hadn't heeded my words, and that she, too, was felling axe men with her blade. I watched for a long moment, observing the way she fought. It was much like her brother, Ephraim's style with the blade, only, I thought, much more graceful. If it hadn't been for the blood flying through the air and the cries of the men she fell, it would've seemed that she were not fighting, but dancing. And as I watched her steady moves, the way she barely batted a lash as she sliced through full grown men (this, our Princess, who'd seemed on the verge of fainting as she watched blood spill from me half a day ago and whose face had drained of all color as she thought of the fate that could have met her brother and father) I realized that my Princess was a force to be reckoned with. Maybe she wasn't in need of as much protection as I'd assumed…

Distraction was a bad thing on the field of battle. As I watched the alluring dance of my warrior Princess, I let an enemy too close in. He raised his axe and swung down devastatingly. I managed to move my shoulder plate in the way of the blade, but still had to bite down on my lip to prevent a cry of pain. Though my skin hadn't been broken, it nearly felt as if the impact had caused the bone beneath to shatter. I moved it experimentally, finding the motion painful, but thankfully, possible. So, maybe no broken bones, but definitely a severe bruise. I wasted no more time in skewering the man on my lance.

My head turned to check on the Princess again as I realized that there were no enemies left around me. I was stunned to see that the same was true for the Princess. I sighed. "All that's left is their leader…" I mused, my eyes resting glaringly on him.

"What was that? Do you think you can take me, wretched lordling?" he scoffed as he saw my eyes on him, mentally stabbing him ten thousand times with the look. He beat his chest in pride. "Come! It's time you high-and-mighty knights learned to respect a true warrior!" He advanced quickly on me. "You will be the first to die!"

He charged, axe swinging. It had been obvious that it was he who had trained all the men we'd just fought. He too, aimed for my face, and all I could to was move my shoulder into the hit. There was a sickening snap as the man hit the same place I'd been hit before, but with double force. Pain clouded my vision, so that when I ran at him with my lance and plans to end his life, I missed. I had to step back as he swung again, for fear of breaking more bones. "Urgh…" I moaned, trying to ignore the pain I was feeling.

"Seth!" The Princess had seen what had happened. She was staring at me in horror. I watched her lips move as she spoke to herself. "His wounds must be worse than he let on…"

The warrior smirked. "Time to die!" He lifted his axe again, and I knew that this time, I wouldn't be able to move to block his strike. I closed my eyes, ready to accept my fate. It was never in a knight's dreams to die, but if there were a time to go, I would rather die protecting my Princess than running away.

Then I heard Eirika scream. "Stop! Face me, if you have the steel!" She was challenging the warrior. She rushed at the man, a look in her eyes that I would've never expected to see in the eyes of any woman, let alone my Princess.

She lifted her blade high into the air and ran it through the man's chest. She drew it out, and I watched the pain register on the leader's face. "What? How?" he breathed. Eirkia struck again, hitting him to the ground. He didn't rise.

I was instantly worried. I had thought that I saw the man swing before Eirkia had dealt the final blow. Had it found a place on her to hit? "Princess, are you injured?" I voiced my worry to the girl. She stared at me, seemingly deep in thought. She blinked.

"What? Oh, no… I'm fine, Seth." Her eyes wandered again, and I believed that the adrenaline rush she must've felt in the fight was wearing off, and she must've been realizing what exactly she had just done.

"But you look so pale…" I murmured.

"I'm fine… Fine," she insisted. Her eyes grew distant once again. "This is war, isn't it? It's not at all like the games I used to play with my brother or Lyon… I never thought—I didn't know it would be this… savage," she said. "Are words useless? Is strength all that matters? It's so sad… Why would the Grado Empire do this? To what end would they start a war?"

"Princess…" I grew concerned for her at her words. Once again I ignored my pain as I dropped off my horse and went over to her. She looked up at me and somehow managed a smile.

"…don't worry, Seth. I won't give in to sorrow. Let's get moving. I'm not broken, and I won't stop until I see Renais restored. I won't stop until I'm reunited with my father and brother."

I smiled back at her, realizing how courageous she really was. I placed a hand on her shoulder, and her smile grew as red highlighted her cheeks. Seeing this, I dropped my arm. Since when did I have the impudence to think that I could approach the Princess so informally? I turned quickly, heading back for my horse. As I always did, I lifted my arm to pull myself up… and let out a cry of pain.

Eirika hurried over to me. "I knew it," I heard her say. She frowned. "Seth, you're wounded…" she grabbed my arm. I pulled it away from her.

"Please don't worry about me, Princess. My only concern is for your safety," I started. She broke in.

"And my only concern is for yours!" she objected. Instantly, her face flushed red as she realized what she'd just said. I felt my face darken as well.

"Princess?" I questioned, wondering if I'd heard her right. She said nothing, only stood there with her mouth opening and closing as if she expected some excuse to leave her lips. I smiled inwardly. Perhaps my little Princess had a slight crush on the man who'd saved her life? The temerity of this thought made me shake my head at my own foolishness. Any feeling that the Princess held for me was only conjured out of the shared danger we'd just faced. But, after seeing today what she was capable of, and seeing how fast she would run to my aid, it would be lying for me to say that the feeling wasn't mutual.

"S-Seth," she finally stammered out. "You're wounded." The conversation had gone in a circle.

"I'm alright, Princess," I said to her. She shook her head dumbly.

"Y-your arm…"

"I'm fine."

"It's… it's not okay," she said. "Seth, you can't move it, can you?" she asked me. I couldn't lie to those innocent eyes.

"It causes me great pain, Princess," I admitted. At some point in this conversation, Eirika had grabbed onto my injured limb again, and began feeling along it, looking for the point of damage.

"Your shoulder," she said, knowing this was the place because as she touched it, I had winced. "How can you stay ahorse if you can't use your shoulder?"

"I will simply ignore it," I said. "I would drag myself forward to the edge of the world for you, Princess. But luckily," I smiled. "That isn't necessary. All we must do is cross that bridge," I said. "I will worry about myself later, alright?" At her nod, I managed to get back onto my horse without the use of one of my arms. I paused as she climbed up after me, wrapping her arms around my torso. I thought faintly that the action could've meant more than it did, but I convinced myself that it was only done to keep her on my horse. As I nudged my steed onwards, the Princess spoke again.

"Thank you, Seth. Thank you for everything you've done for me," she said softly.

I smiled inwardly.

"It is my duty and my pleasure, Princess Eirika."

* * *

**Okay, so some of you probably noticed that 90% of that dialogue was taken from the prologue of the game. ^^; As promised in the description, this was merely my take on the actions that went on behind the few words that we get to see run across the screen. I did write the last bit myself, though.**

**Let me know what you think! R&R!**


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